1. Field of the Invention Outdoor cooking units; picnic supplies
2. Description of the Prior Art
Occasionally a descriptive term in this application may be shortened so as to recite only a part rather than the entirety thereof as a matter of convenience or to avoid needless redundancy. In instances in which that is done, applicant intends that the same meaning be afforded each manner of expression. Thus, the term aerating heating bed face (101) might be used in one instance but in another, if meaning is otherwise clear from context, expression might be shortened to heating bed face (101) or merely face (101). Any of those forms is intended to convey the same meaning.
The term emplace or any of its forms when used in this application means the joining of two objects or parts so as to unite them in a reasonably easily removable way, such as the positioning of a span shortening hanger rod (5) into the heating chamber's open top (104) from which it (5) may be removed, discussed ante. Where the term is employed, rigid emplacement connotes the meaning that the object is removable but only with some degree of difficulty, such as might be encountered in separating two parts--for example, a pin from a socket in which it is held in position by compression of a spring. The word emplace is also consistent in meaning with the word "detachable" as occasionally used in connection parlance but not in this application, since it is derived from the root attach. The term attach or fasten or any of their forms when so used means that the juncture is of a more or less permanent nature, such as might be accomplished by nails, screws, welds or adhesives. Employment of the words connect or join or any of their forms is intended to include the meaning of both in a more general way.
Outdoor cooking evolved from the discovery of fire. It would be only a matter of time before food would be positioned with respect to the fire by means of one apparatus or another to enhance preparation. Even the more refined art of recreational barbeque cooking itself, as the outdoor or picnic pastime we know it to be today, was practiced more than a century ago. Like all other recreational endeavors, improvements in devices for the sake of convenience have continually been sought after. Construction of ovens around the heating source permitted meritworthy cooking and baking results by entrapping the heat. Those structures, in turn, led to notions of portability and toolbox like barbeque sets which could be neatly stowed when not in use.
There is a lore to outdoor cooking, however, which those more elaborate devices fail to satisfy. There are many who would forego them for the thrill of creating, as it were, a palatable delight from naught but the bare essentials of life. There is, thus, a sport in the undertaking calling upon one's skill and experience to do it properly. Yet, convenience concerning such matters as the food's emplacement with respect to the heat, the number of cooking sites available on the barbeque cooker and the cleanup required after the cooking is done are always appreciated by even the most rugged outdoor folk.
The price of simplicity, however, has generally taken its toll upon the food by charring it badly and, as we more recently have come to realize, upon its consumers, whose health undesired carcinogens imperil. The object of innovation in such matters, therefore, has been to build a barbeque cooker simple in construction but one which, nevertheless, diverts smoke and unpleasant substances from the food itself.
Over the decades, a number of cookers varying considerably in degrees of simplicity were developed which separated the food from heating source. It should be understood that there are a considerable number of devices in the prior art which would be relevant to this application but for the fact that they, fully or in part, are oven-like enclosed structures. This application avoids any references to them because they entail reflective radiation and heat entrapment in the cooking process, principles foreign to those inherent in applicant's invention. Open air barbeque cookers were devised at prior art, however, which like applicants, comprise a vertically disposed heating bed from which heat is radiated outward upon food suspended in place before the bed. Other historical devices this application does not address include cookers, whether with vertical heating beds or otherwise, which also included spits made to revolve either manually or by electric power. Nor does this application address electrically heated appliances comprising vertical heating units which otherwise, like an electric toaster, have historically been created for and used with hanging grills in the manner applicant's invention does.
Some of the vertical bed cookers of prior art include a single rod-like extension upon which food grills are hung in reasonable proximity of the fire for cooking. The single protruding rod provided a hanging site upon which some part, usually the handle, of a food clamping grill--typically a hinged hand-held wire construction in which the food is clamped in place--was to be hung. More often, two such rods are present so that the bottom edge of the grill--a lengthier part thereof--may more conveniently be hung upon the rods in two-point support to position its contents at a higher elevation. Moreover, two such rods installed to project at both forward and rear faces of the heating bed--that is, in two directional extension--permit cooking at both faces simultaneously.
There is merit in the prior art vertical bed arrangement, since not only are the barbeque coals exposed considerably to the air, permitting it to pass freely through them but, even more advantageously, the smoke and undesirable carcinogens are diverted upward instead of toward the food hung to the side for cooking. That need was, thus, addressed even before much about carcinogens had been learned.
It appears that the difficulty in using the prior art vertical heating bed devices lies in a preoccupation with the then and now popular hand-held grill, an object whose size--partly to maximize the quantity of food to be cooked and partly for the safety of those who hold it--is considerable. Even the ones presently extant measure perhaps as much as two feet in length from handle to hinge. The span between the prior art paired hanger rods was great enough to accommodate the dimensions of such hand-held grills. Other than his own, applicant is aware of no vertically disposed barbeque cooker which disposes a pair of hanger rods in such manner as to permit smaller grills or baskets to be hung from two points upon them.
To attach a multiplicity of rods upon a cooker to fill this need would unduly clutter its construction, since a manufacturer cannot possibly anticipate the span required in one case or another. As explained ante, applicant's assembly as preferably embodied includes a separate hanger which is configured with means to emplace it into the top of a cooker at any selected point along the span between two rods attached at each upper corner thereof. That particular element of the inventive assembly which is the subject of this application has, therefore, been designated a span shortening hanger rod.
For outdoor cooking purposes, there is no compelling need for extra hardware comprising pans or trays to collect spent ashes. Where such pans are provided for in a completely unenclosed cooker, it is generally necessary to provide legs or other supporting structures below the heating bed. Ashes have been traditionally cooled down with a water hose at a preselected barbeque area or deposited in a suitable waste site. One may, therefore, dispense with underlying legs or other supporting structures which otherwise add to the cost of manufacture and often make a cooking unit tippy. If the cooking is done in an area in which one is not particularly concerned about dripping grease, it may merely be permitted to fall onto the ground. Grease collection may be considered appropriate in other instances for environmental or other reasons. Accordingly, one may exercise discretion in emplacing a pan beneath food suspended to the side of a vertical heating bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,190 issued to Smith features a collapsible frame, the upper horizontal parts of which may serve somewhat in the manner as projecting hanger rods. They are provided with an undulating or wavy configuration presumably to enhance emplacement of cooking accessories in a secure manner. Because there is no projecting end to those parts, however, special hooks or other structures would have to be included to hang something from them. More importantly, while the upper frame parts upon assembly permit outward movement of a grill to displace it a selected distance from the heat, no means are provided to shorten the hanger span to accommodate smaller grills or baskets. Moreover, the framework appears to snap together by means of spring clamps and, therefore, does not share the advantages of simplified one-piece configuration. Although not immediately obvious, it should also be recognized that the device is actually disclosed as an enclosed oven-like structure. U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,408 issued to Tescula comprises a wire construction in which the same wire is formed to comprise Y shaped legs to raise the vertical heating bed off the ground as well as to comprise the hanger rods. It appears to function much in the manner of applicant's invention since it provides for selected position displacement of the food from the heat. However, there is no provision for selected lateral adjustment such as applicant's span shortening hanger rod addresses. U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,525 issued to Rabello illustrates a V shaped heating bed upon an assembled framework. The hanger rods disclosed appear to comprise reinforcement rods--often referred to as "rerods"--which by reason of their uneven or bumpy configuration, enhance security of emplacement of cooking utensils upon them. The rods provide for adjustment in outward displacement of food from heat but not for shortening the lateral span between them. U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,433 issued to Vitale consists of a vertical heating bed which is pivotable to a horizontal position. Its hanger rods are themselves pivotable within certain limits and, therefore, permit only slight adjustment for laterally shortening the hanging span. The pivotable leg structure also apparently made it necessary to limit the length of the rods to avoid the hazard of tipping. Therefore, outward displacement appears to have been somewhat compromised. U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,651 issued to Schultz comprises a folding X shaped frame which disposes the heating bed upon one limb of the X and the food grill upon the other. Dripping grease follows an adherence path. Outward displacement of food from heat along the limbs is feasible but appears to be much more limited than would be the case with hanger rods. U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,019 issued to Lundgren features a device comprising H shaped construction permitting a vertical heating bed to be oriented horizontally for cooking purposes. Such configuration sometimes also permits the operator to tip the device upon the lower pair of limbs to facilitate lighting the coals. Lundgren's H configuration permits parts thereof to be employed as heat reflectors and makes outward displacement of the food from the heat feasible within certain limits. No intermediate lateral span positioning is provided for, however. U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,733 issued to Moore comprises a more primitive heavy wrought iron or steel construction in which the heating grates are separated and the food grill is hung in a fixed outward location. The device, therefore, provides neither for outward displacement of food from heat nor lateral span variations. U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,187 issued to Tescula discloses a table like structure in which a series of vertical heating beds and food grills are mounted. Some displacement of food from heat is accomplished by moving one or the other of the units along a rail. No lateral span adjustment for smaller grills or baskets is provided for, however. U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,345 issued to Peplin bears a strong resemblance to the first of the Tescula devices supra except that horizontal orientation of the otherwise vertical heating bed is possible. The same comments made with reference to Tescula are relevant concerning this device. U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,996 issued to Tescula illustrates a table-like device with wheels with hanger rods providing for displacement of food from heat but fixed for lateral span distance. U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,951 issued to Kahn features a vertical heating bed which pivots upon a wire stand to horizontal. A handle framework loop may be pivoted into place to provide for laterally sliding upon it smaller food grills or baskets hung by means of hooks. Outward displacement of food from heat is fixed in distance, however. U.S. Pat. No. 2,441,190 issued to Fuller comprises a device suggestive of that of Moore, supra, in which both outward displacement of food from heat is limited and lateral span adjustment for smaller food containers is not provided for U.S. Pat. No. 2,201,756 issued to Avetta constitutes another relevant model. Among other things, to strengthen the structure, it includes a cross brace situated above the heating bed upon a framework which heightens the structure beyond that necessary for the vertical bed's operation. While the Avetta device provides for outward displacement upon rods of food from heat, there is no provision for lateral span adjustment. U.S. Pat. No. 2,048,769 issued to Anderson is suggestive of the first of the Tescula devices supra but its hanger rods extend outward openly only upon one of the two faces of the heating bed. To suspend it off the ground, it also comprises wire legs which may be adjusted to permit horizontal orientation of the heating bed. No lateral span adjustment is provided for. U.S. Pat. No. 47,176 issued to Wetmore is an early construction providing for a vertical heating bed with a notched arm to permit outward displacement of food from heat. As with the devices discussed supra, lateral span adjustment for smaller food containers is not provided for.
All of the foregoing feature in common the objective of disposing the heating bed in open air vertical orientation with radiation of heat toward the food at the side. While many of them provide for outward displacement of the food from the heat, often by sliding the food grill upon rods, none comprise one-piece bed and special rod construction providing for lateral adjustment of rod span to allow two-point hanging emplacement of smaller food grills or baskets. In summary, the needs or objectives pointed out supra thus far remain only partly addressed in the prior art and some have not been met at all.